Let’s Work to End White on White Crime

Whenever you have a cluster of homogenous ethnicities dwelling in one geographical area, it is expected that the majority of commerce, worship, entertainment or any other form of human interaction will remain within the boundaries of that group’s dwelling. Despite government mandated desegregation, America remains largely segregated in along the lines of race. I believe only the very affluent have been able to achieve true desegregation, since their wealth affords them exclusivity. There are no “suburbs for billionaires”. They all live in estates; and generally, the other estate dwellers could care less about what race the other estate dwellers are, so far as they pay their property taxes.

Now that we have established that the very wealthy have excluded themselves from the mainstream conversation yet again (those crafty ‘one percenters’!) let’s turn our attention to the majority who live in this country: White folks.

72% of the American population is White. That’s a lot of White crime that goes unnoticed and/or unsolved. To illustrate my point, let me draw your attention to the following: people of Caucasian decent make up only 33% of the prison population, while making up 72% of the national population. In contrast, African-Americans/Blacks make up 40% of the prison population while constituting only 12% of the national population. Is that because Black people are more prone to crime? I hardly think so. I think it has more to do with what the majority has defined as a crime than the deed itself. While there is an almost rabid effort to jail more and more Blacks for marijuana possession, for example, there is an equally lax effort in the pursuit of marijuana producers and distributors. Producers aren’t typically Black people; “you know who” is. However, if their participation in the marijuana switches to the supply side, I’m sure we would see a swift switch in legislation in this regard.

In the wake of the Trayvon Martin murder and subsequent protests, there has been quite a bit of consternation from commentators, both white and black, about the vacuum of an outcry against Black on Black crime…at least to the degree that we have shown in Trayvon’s case. To White people, I say “Thank you for caring. Now let’s look in YOUR backyard so I can impose my concerns for your race on you as well.”

It has been documented that most violent crimes are committed between two or more parties that know each other. This is why police begin each investigation by attempting to establish the relationship between a victim and a perpetrator. Most violent crimes are not committed at random. So in the inner city, where most Black on Black crime exists – and subsequently where Blacks share living and working space – these crimes are neither wanton nor random. There is generally a perceived threat from the familiar victim, or the crime is driven by the pursuit of scarce resources, or sometimes something as simple as envy. Black on Black crime is therefore easily dealt with through efforts at poverty reduction. The problem is, America doesn’t really want Black people to thrive. There is a primal need to keep them underfoot in order to prove the majority’s superiority. As a perceived “subhuman” group, it stands to reason that the hallmark of their existence would be a vice…any vice.

That’s why when it comes to White on White crime, the equation becomes a little more cumbersome. How do account for this equally widespread pension for depravity in the White community? Why simple! We compartmentalize it.

White crime is segmented into neat little pockets and subheadings like “domestic violence” or “corporate embezzlement” or “methamphetamine manufacturing” or “sex trafficking”. White crime is white-washed as being just crime. But when a White man shoots and kills his estranged wife and kids, is it not white on white crime? And when a (White) rogue broker loots the coffers of his esteemed clients, draining their accounts of millions of dollars, is this not also White on White crime? Why aren’t there rallies to end these atrocities – the same type of rallies the majority would like to see Black folk demonstrating against in their own (segregated) communities? Well, when the Occupiers did rally against corporate greed, they were vilified, largely by conservatives. Ironically, it is these same conservatives who do not want to be called to the carpet for their own mess, but want Black America to wash its proverbial laundry in public, presumably to satisfy their own voyeuristic pleasure.

Even popular culture reflects the neglect in attention to White on White crime is suffering. The show Cold Case is centered around and dedicated to uncovering crimes that have gone unsolved, most of them perpetrated by one White person against another.

My friends, this has to stop. We MUST encourage White people to concentrate on the rot festering in their communities and not worry so much about what’s happening in the ‘hood. But if they simply cannot, let’s at least return the favor.

Somewhere in middle America, there is a perfectly good housewife losing her teeth to meth-mouth. Her dealer is a greasy white man with stringy brown hair named Jim. That’s White on White crime.

When a wannabe cool mom throws a kegger for her 16 year old daughter and her friends, that’s white on white crime.

Bernie Madoff made off with millions of other white people’s dollars. That’s White on White crime.

There is a White guy somewhere in Pennsylvania who is about to molest a White twelve year old girl. It’s disgusting. It’s pedophilia. And it’s White on White crime.

Shall we work to end White on White crime…or should we as a human-frikkin’-beings work to end all injustice and crimes everywhere? Y’all decide.